The Convert
by Kalta79
Summary: AU crossover. Not gonna spoil the ending, but I decided to bring Shelinda to Midgar for a very specific reason. Besides starting to annoy everyone that is.
1. Chapter 1

Shelinda was on her way to the temple in Macalania, crossing through the Thunder Plains. She was so upset that the strange man who was one of Lady Yuna's guardians had told her the wedding with Maester Seymour was a false rumour, that she didn't notice portal that had suddenly opened up close to her until she felt herself being sucked in. She screamed and tried to grab onto the lightning tower and held on for dear life, then realized this might be the will of Yevon, so she let go and was sucked away. The portal closed leaving no trace of its presence, and the people who had come running towards the screaming were confused to find nothing.

* * *

Reeve was walking back to his apartment when he heard a disturbance in the alleyway. Taking a look, he saw a portal appear and a woman get spit out of it before the portal disappeared again. He ran over to her, wanting to make sure she wasn't hurt. She was wearing an extremely odd outfit.

"Are you okay?" he asked her as he helped her get up off the ground. The woman opened her mouth, but whatever she was saying, it was unintelligible.

Reeve didn't know any foreign languages, so all he could make out was the word Yevon. After she spoke, she made some kind of weird hand gesture and half-bowed. Unsure what else to do, he got his cellphone out and made a call.

* * *

Tifa picked up the phone on the first ring, hoping it was Cloud calling back. "Hello? Oh, hi Reeve. What? Are you serious? Um, yeah I think I can be there in a few minutes."

Barret happened to be in the bar at the moment, so Tifa asked him to watch Marlene and Denzel for a little while before leaving. Reeve was the only man she knew who would call for help when they found a woman. She located Reeve and the strange woman still in the alleyway. Tifa didn't understand what the woman was saying either, but she was able to get the message of a safe haven through to her with a weird game of charades.

Shelinda wasn't happy that the man and woman seemed to be speaking a different language, and that it seemed that machina was being used here. But maybe that's why she was here, to show these people the error of their ways. She followed the woman through the city, amazed by everything she saw. How could these people so willingly engage in wickedness? Especially when the woman she was following seemed quite nice.

When they got back to 7th Heaven, Tifa took her in the back way so they could go straight upstairs into her apartment. When she opened the door to the spare bedroom, she realized she hadn't introduced herself.

"Tifa." she said, pointing to herself when she had the woman's attention.

"Shelinda." the woman responded after taking a moment to understand, pointing to herself. Then she made a weird gesture and half-bowed again as Tifa indicated that the room was for her, then left.

Tifa went downstairs and let Barret know he could leave if he wanted, then made a sandwich for Shelinda and went back upstairs. Opening the guest bedroom door, Tifa saw that she had fallen asleep on the bed. She quietly put the plate on the nightstand and left again, carefully closing the door. While Shelinda was sleeping, Tifa could try and find out what language she spoke, then they could find out what was going on.


	2. Chapter 2

Shelinda woke up, confused for a moment, then realized she was in a machina world. She wondered if she had somehow ended up in Zanarkand before it was destroyed by Sin. Noticing the sandwich, she started eating it as she left the room and wandered around. Hearing voices, she found a set of stairs and walked down them and opened another door, finding herself in what looked like a bar. Apparently the layout and patrons of these kinds of places never change, no matter the time period or technology available. Tifa saw Shelinda and asked Yuffie to take over for a bit, then guided Shelinda into her office.

Sitting Shelinda down in front of her desk, Tifa felt disappointed as she called Reeve. She hadn't been able to find any language that matched what Shelinda had been speaking. After she hung up, she noticed Shelinda staring at her.

"That was my cellphone." Tifa said.

"Ce…cellphone?" Shelinda asked, trying to get the unfamiliar word out.

Tifa smiled and nodded encouragingly. "That's right, cellphone."

After finishing her sandwich, Shelinda started pointing to items in Tifa's office, and Tifa would say what it was, repeating it if necessary until Shelinda was able to say it right. By the time Reeve showed up, Shelinda had a vocabulary of thirty words.

"I think you should take over her language lessons now, Reeve." Tifa said as he entered her office. "Take her for a walk to the park and back."

When they left, Tifa hoped she was doing the right thing. She knew Reeve was lonely, and a woman dropping from the skies might be the only way to remedy that. When they came back, Shelinda's vocabulary had expanded quite a bit. Reeve was happy to leave her in Tifa's care again, even if it had been quite a long time since he had talked to a woman for any length of time.

* * *

A week later as Reeve and Shelinda took another walk, which Tifa insisted he do every day during his lunch break to help her improve her language skills, he was a bit uncomfortable. Shelinda had learned enough words to carry on simple conversations, and she seemed to have the idea that there was some reason Yevon had him be the first man she saw in this new world, and would follow him around like a little puppy when he came to 7th Heaven.

* * *

Elena couldn't believe she had let Reno talk her into this. Well, there hadn't been any talking involved. They were having lunch at Tifa's bar, for some reason it amused Reno to be a frequent patron of a bar run by former AVALANCHE members. It amused him more to have sex with her in plain sight of everyone there, even if they didn't know it. She had been sitting next to Reno at their table when suddenly she felt his hand caress her thigh under the table. It was their day off, so she had a dress on which made it easier for him. When she looked at Reno, there was no mistaking the nature of the smug look on his face as he dared her to say something as he moved his hand between her legs and started to take her panties off.

Elena had never been able to tell him No, and this was no exception. When he had gestured for her to get in his lap, she had willingly complied. Reno unfastened his pants and entered her in one fluid movement. Elena was glad she had chosen a dress she could move in, the loose skirt provided cover for their activity. Reno might be an exhibitionist, but she wasn't, she just couldn't refuse him because he never made her regret having sex with him when he always delivered a stellar performance.

* * *

Shelinda returned from her walk with Reeve and started her usual routine of trying to convert the bar patrons into proper Yevonities. It kind of annoyed Tifa, but she just dealt with it by telling her customers that it was free entertainment.

Reno was pleased that Elena hadn't refused to play along. He would never tell her, but he preferred her the most out of all his women. Reno smiled as he felt her tremble. Elena took his face in her hands and kissed him, and he put his arms around her as he got his own sweet release from her, both of them momentarily oblivious to everything else but each other. Reno felt Elena suddenly stiffen up and realized she was looking behind him. Turning his head slightly, he saw Shelinda standing there, looking at them both.

"Do you know that technology breeds wickedness?" Shelinda asked them.

"I'll handle this." Reno told Elena, gently putting her back in her own chair and handing her panties back to her, and Elena hurriedly crawled under the table to put them back on in private.

Standing up, he turned around to face Shelinda. "This is what breeds wickedness, little lady." Reno lifted up his shirt to show her his exposed crotch, then fastened his pants back up as he sat down and took a sip of his beer.

"His is bigger." Shelinda told Reno, pointing to where Rude sat at the bar, who hung his head down suddenly to avoid Tifa's startled and angry look she was throwing his way. Elena was glaring at Reno too for his display, while he was glaring at Rude for upstaging him.

"You wanna get outta here and go somewhere more comfortable?" Reno asked Elena, ignoring her dirty look and when he whispered something in her ear, she blushed. Reno put some money down on the table and stood up, holding out a hand to help Elena up, and then he offered his arm and they walked out of the bar.

* * *

Reeve wasn't sure what to do, Tifa said she had plans for the weekend and he needed to take Shelinda until she was back. He had no social life, so it wouldn't ruin any of his plans, he just wasn't used to having company.


	3. Chapter 3

"Any word on the disappearance of Shelinda?" Maester Mika asked Maester Kinoc.

"Nothing. People heard her screaming in the Thunder Plains, but no sign of her was ever found. The fiends might have done it, but they usually leave some remains behind."

"Someone did see a unusually strong bolt of lightning just before it happened." Maester Seymour commented. "She was a most annoying acolyte. I'm not sure it's enough of a loss to worry ourselves over."

* * *

He fixed up the spare bedroom and was just seeing how much food he had on hand when the doorbell rang, and he opened it to Tifa and Shelinda. Shelinda only had a small bag of clothes that Tifa had found for her. After the pleasantries were done, Tifa left for her weekend with Rude, determined to find out how Shelinda knew his size.

"Um, what do you like to eat?" Reeve asked her as he showed her the guest bedroom.

"I'm not hungry now, but I can cook for myself when I am. Tifa's been giving me cooking lessons." Shelinda replied. "If you like, after I pray I can cook for you too. Yevon must want me to help you somehow."

Shelinda finished her prayers and found Reeve watching TV, drinking something that she suspected was alcohol. Drinking only had a place in religious ceremonies as far she was concerned, but these people in what Tifa called Midgar didn't seem to care. She sat down next to Reeve, trying not to look at the television. She was amazed at the technology all around her, and it was hard sometimes to remind herself that it was forbidden.

"What are you drinking?" she asked Reeve.

"It's called a Taco Belle, some tequila flavored with lime juice and a pinch of taco seasoning." Reeve replied, surprised how different she looked after Tifa gave her a makeover by convincing Shelinda that it would help her understand Midgardians and have better success at converting them.

"What's it taste like?"

* * *

Tifa came out of the bathroom in the new lingerie she had bought special for Rude, and he looked up and he immediately got off the bed and came over to her.

"You're beautiful." he told her, taking Tifa in his arms.

"And you're going to tell me how Shelinda knew you were bigger than Reno if you ever want to see what's underneath it again." Tifa said in a cold harsh tone.

"She walked in on me once when I was using the bathroom. That's all, I swear!" Rude explained in self-defense.

Tifa gave him a hard look and decided to trust him unless she got more proof. "If you say so."

"Honest, that's what happened."

* * *

Reeve stared at Shelinda's unconscious body. He had let her try his drink, then she ended up finishing it and making a few more, getting drunk and crazy. She was doing a striptease against Reeve's protests when she passed out. He managed to get her into her bed after he redressed her.

The next morning Reeve woke up to the sound of her throwing up. He hurriedly got out of bed and had a light breakfast ready when she finally stumbled out of her room.

"What happened last night?" she asked. "I didn't disgrace myself, did I?"

"Um, you had too much to drink and passed out." Reeve answered.

* * *

Gippal checked the machine again. It hadn't worked again since that day he was trying it in the Thunder Plains and lightning hit it. He had found the blueprints for it in Rin's archive, and there was no clear instructions on its purpose, but it had looked interesting, so he had decided to try it. He had heard that an acolyte of Yevon went missing when he was trying it out, and he wanted to get her back if he could. It wasn't that he cared much for Yevon, but he didn't want to inflame already high tensions between the Al Bhed and Yevon.


	4. Chapter 4

Shelinda stared at Reeve's hands holding the jewelry box that contained a beautiful ring. She hadn't actually seen this coming…it had taken her weeks to get him into bed, having to get advice from Tifa and the other women at the bar. Reeve was such a nice man, and Yevon must have meant for him to be the first man she saw in this strange world, but they couldn't marry…her eyes darkened as she prepared herself to tell him.

"Please say something." Reeve pleaded, worried as he looked at her expression change.

"I do care for you, Reeve, but I…I can't marry you." Shelinda blurted out, looking down at the carpet.

"Why not?" Reeve asked, standing up.

"I can't get married without a priest of Yevon doing the ceremony, and there aren't any in your world. Even if I could teach someone here how to do the ceremony, it would be false because a Maester hasn't ordained them as a priest."

"If there was an officially ordained priest of Yevon available, would you marry me then?" Reeve asked hopefully.

"Of course! But how could that happen?"

"I'll put our best scientists on the case to figure out how to get back to your world."

"Thank you!" Shelinda kissed him.

"Will you do me a favor until we figure it out though?"

"What?"

"Wear this ring." Reeve handed it to her.

"I can do that." Shelinda smiled at him, and Reeve felt his heart leap a little as he placed the ring on her finger.

* * *

Gippal drove to the Thunder Plains, hopeful that he would be able to finally repeat his experiment successfully. He drove carefully, keeping close to the lightning rod towers, parking at the one closest to the location of where he did it the first time. Getting out of his vehicle, he grabbed the device and put it in the same location, then attached a lightning rod to it and waited.

* * *

Shelinda was walking to 7th Heaven where she had a lunch date with Tifa, when suddenly she heard a noise in an alleyway. Cautiously peeking around the corner, she didn't see anything at first, so she walked in further. Hearing something again, she turned to her left and saw what she had been told was a lunar cat. They were a nocturnal species who was harmed by daylight, so she shouldn't be seeing one in the afternoon. Looking closer, she realized it was a kitten.

"Oh you poor thing." Shelinda said, picking it up to shield it from the little bit of sunlight in the alleyway. "Where's your mommy? Or are you an orphan? Let's find you a better home."

Shelinda was looking around for a proper sized box to transport the kitten in when she heard another noise. She was horrified when she saw another portal opening. She hurriedly put the kitten down.

"Run!" she told the kitten, and they complied, running to the end of the alleyway and hid under a dumpster. Then Shelinda got out her cellphone to call Reeve. She hadn't wanted the cellphone, she was avoiding technology as much as she could, but Reeve had insisted she take it, and she figured it didn't count as blasphemy if she didn't use it. But this was an emergency…Reeve had showed her which buttons to push to automatically call him.

"Reeve! The portal, it's back! Help me!" Shelinda shouted into the phone as the portal started sucking her in. There was nothing close by for her to grab, and as she felt it enveloping her again, she dropped the cellphone and prayed to Yevon that Reeve would find a way to Spira.

The portal, once it had its victim, closed up, leaving nothing behind but a cellphone still in the middle of a phone call.

"Shelinda? Are you there? What's wrong? Answer me please, Shelinda!"


End file.
